Wowzers. Duane Allman was my original guitar hero and my first electric was a LP Custom I saved up to buy. When I played in a h.s. band a friend brought out an old Gibson from his dads basement and gave it to me for the next 5-7 years of moving about the country. Turned out to be a 1959 ES-335 Dot in perfect shape...the Bobby tobacco sunburst kind. While I loved the hollowbody breathing and unique tone of the Dot, I was partial to the meticulous bound ebony fretboard on Custom. Unfotunately, I ran into the kid who said his father wanted the '59 Dot back (duh), and taking the devil too close into my inner circle led to the sale of the LP Custom a few years later.

In my 2nd life as a guitarist I have replaced melody and a tad of traditional theory and dexterity for the soulful tone of unrestrained youthful passion I used to possess. Jerry became more of a role-model musically, and single coil Fenders articulate the general goal better for me today, but I miss the power and ease with which I manhandled that shorter scale ebony fretboard. There is something about the 1st guitar (scale/neck) one learns to play on that makes it the most comfortable forever it seems, and for me it was the ebony Les Paul Custom neck that appears to have been commandeered for that early Alembic effort.

Much gratitude to Rick and the other craftsmen, artists and tinkerers 'round here. It occurred to me the other day that there are 2 types of people: those that create (work) primarily in order to CONSUME; and those that consume in order to CREATE (labor of love). It is getting tougher and tougher to be part of the latter group it seems, both culturally and under increased pressure from big business and big gov't. Of course reality dictates a balance of some ratio; Care and patience are often the biggest factor in determining the quality of a project, which is at odds with maximizing profit or merely sustaining the endeavor. It may cost considerably more to purchase the patience and love involved with quality, but it goes deeper than the product..it affects and shapes our whole culture.